Gold nanorods for fluorescence lifetime imaging in biology

Two-photon luminescence (TPL) from gold nanorods shows considerable potential in biological imaging. We study the imaging of gold nanorods in Madin-Darby canine kidney (MDCK) cells using fluorescence lifetime imaging microscopy (FLIM). FLIM provides images with better contrast and sensitivity than intensity imaging. The characteristic fluorescence lifetime of gold nanorods is found to be less than 100 ps, which can be used to distinguish gold nanorods from other fluorescent labels and endogenous fluorophores in lifetime imaging. (C) 2010 Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers. [DOI: 10.1117/1.3366646]